Kevin and Oscar: Snapshots, Episode 7 - Down Mexico Way
by J-R Virtual Seasons
Summary: June 2006: There are reminiscences and revelations as friends and family gather to wish Kevin and Oscar bon voyage – or buen viaje – before the two embark on their much-anticipated backpacking tour of Mexico.


Carl, Beth, James, Michael, Ella, Eduardo, Kylie and Conchita were ranged around the communal areas of the Rivera house. A large banner proclaiming _Buen Viaje! _was dominating the living room, while the array of birthday cards on the mantelpiece bore testament to the fact that the previous day had been Kevin's nineteenth birthday.

Kevin dashed out of his bedroom and ran down the stairs, dressed in shorts, T-shirt and sneakers. He dumped his overflowing backpack by the front door, swept through the living room and dining room with an expectant expression on his face, and then went into the kitchen. He leaned against the breakfast bar and exhaled heavily, causing Beth to look over from the sink.

'He isn't here yet, Mom,' Kevin said, slightly peevishly. 'Why isn't he here yet?'

'I don't know, sweetheart, but there's still plenty of time,' Beth said reassuringly. 'Jamie, no! That's not for eating, darling.'

'I'm gonna try calling again,' said Kevin.

'Okay, honey,' said Beth, as she succeeded in wrestling a wooden spoon away from James, 'but they're probably on their way right now.'

Kevin went into the hallway, dialled the phone and held it to his ear, jiggling up and down with impatience as it rang continuously. After a reasonable amount of time, Kevin sighed and abandoned the phone. He turned to see that Michael was standing in the living room doorway, watching him.

'Don't worry, Kev,' said Michael. 'He'll be here.'

'You really think so?' Kevin asked anxiously.

'Of course,' said Michael. 'He's never let you down before, has he?'

'No,' said Kevin. 'But what if he's suddenly realised he doesn't want to come?'

'Don't talk garbage, Kev,' said Michael. 'The two of you have been planning this trip for years – there's no way he's gonna bail now! You know how much he loves you – he'll be here.'

'Yeah... yeah, I guess you're right,' said Kevin. 'Thanks, Mike.'

'You're gonna have a fantastic time in Mexico,' said Michael. 'And you definitely deserve it! You've always been the best friend anyone could ever have. I don't know why you decided to be so cool to me, 'cause I definitely wasn't cool to you first, and I just want to say that I... I really care about you, Kev.'

'I really care about _you_, Mike,' said Kevin, beaming at him.

'And I want you to know that I'll miss you while you're in Mexico.'

'I'll miss you too, dude. I'll send you a few postcards, so we won't have to miss each other _too_ much.'

Michael smiled and nodded, then he looked down at the floor. Kevin made an attempt to enter the living room, but before he could sidle past Michael, he found himself enveloped in a crushing hug.

'You make sure you take care of yourself, Kev, okay?' Michael breathed into his ear. 'You might get mugged by some nutjob!'

'I promise you, Mike,' said Kevin, returning the unexpected hug, 'I'll be very careful.'

'Good,' said Michael, 'because I want to see you back here in one piece, okay?'

'Okay,' said Kevin.

Michael clapped Kevin on the back several times before withdrawing his arms and shambling off in a very embarrassed manner. Kevin turned to see that Ella had been watching from the foot of the stairs.

'Now _that_ was hot, Kev,' she grinned at him. 'Well-muscled male bonding – just what I like best!'

'It wasn't hot,' said Kevin, 'it was surprisingly tender. He's never hugged me before, you know.'

'Of course not,' said Ella. 'I never thought I'd see the day when Mike would hug another boy... but then I'm not surprised he made an exception for you. You were the first person – well, the first _boy_ – ever to offer him real friendship, and I know he loves you for that.'

'He must've had _some_ friends at elementary school,' said Kevin.

'No, he didn't,' said Ella. 'Well, I guess there was that little gang of his, but they were just afraid of him... and he _was_ pretty awful to everyone. I remember one time when every boy in the fifth grade except Michael was invited to Ethan Coke's birthday party at Laser Tag, and Michael stood in the middle of the classroom having a huge tantrum for a half-hour. When the principal came to deal with the situation, Michael punched him in the mouth.'

'Oh my God, he didn't!'

'He did! He almost got kicked out of school for that, but they gave him another chance in the end. My girl-friends gave me hell when we came back for the first day of sixth grade and Mike and I announced we were a couple... not that any of those girls were _really_ my friends, of course... but anyway, I'm glad I made friends with Mike and I'm glad we started dating – well, _saying_ we were dating but not actually going anywhere or doing anything for a year or so – and I'm glad we were put in the seventh grade with you, Kev.'

'So am I,' said Kevin. 'I think of you both as very close friends, Ella... and I really mean that this time!'

Ella laughed, looped her arms around Kevin's neck and kissed him on the cheek.

'You're a true diamond, Kev,' she told him. 'I know you're gonna have an excellent time in Mexico and I wish you all the happiness in the world, and you're wonderful and you're gorgeous!'

'Oh yeah?' Kevin laughed. 'I'm not just cute in my own way?'

'No,' Ella grinned, 'you're much more than that!'

Kevin smiled and hugged her, then the doorbell rang. Kevin dropped Ella like a hot brick and ran to answer it.

* * *

Kevin pulled Oscar over the threshold and enfolded him in a tight embrace. Peter, Dana and Jessica sidled around the pair of them and entered the house, maintaining a tactful silence as they headed for the living room.

'Don't _do_ that to me!' Kevin exhaled in Oscar's face. 'I thought you were standing me up!'

'Never,' said Oscar, reaching out to stroke Kevin's cheek. 'I couldn't find my passport. We were all searching for ages, then I finally remembered I'd folded it up in a pair of underpants and packed it last week.'

Kevin laughed in sheer relief, then he kissed Oscar with unbridled passion. As his right hand wandered up to cup the back of Oscar's head, Kevin was struck by a sudden realisation.

'Your hair!' Kevin exclaimed. 'What the hell happened to your hair, man?'

Oscar grinned, and reached up to touch his closely cropped hair.

'It was a practical decision, and it's not because I'm worried about catching fleas or anything like that,' he said. 'We're gonna be away for six months, and it grows so fast – it'll be down to my shoulders again by the time we get back.'

'Yeah, I guess so,' said Kevin. 'Jeez, now I wish I'd had a trim myself – mine will be out of control in six months! Still, I guess I can get a quick cut in Mexico somewhere.'

'You didn't really think I wasn't gonna show up, did you? We've been planning this trip for years!'

'I don't know _what_ I thought. But now... oh, now everything's perfect!'

They kissed again, and continued doing so until Jessica stuck her head out of the living room.

'Everyone's waiting for you to come in,' she announced. 'You're not gonna get _too_ carried away out there, are you?'

Kevin and Oscar turned round, looking rather sheepish. Jessica gave them a grin and then ducked back into the living room; they followed quickly behind her.

* * *

Everyone had gathered in the living room and was talking together in small clusters. Kevin and Oscar found an area of free floor next to Eduardo and Peter, who were having a conversation.

'Yeah, I really feel comfortable in my role – you know, like I'm where I'm supposed to be in my life,' Eduardo was saying. 'People really accept me as the boss now; like, they know I know what I'm doing. They don't look at me and think "Oh, he's the Venkman character" anymore.'

'Do they look at you and think "Oh, he's the Spengler character" instead?' said Peter.

Eduardo laughed and said, 'I don't think I've gotten _that_ far yet.'

Peter smiled, then he reached out to ruffle what remained of Oscar's hair. Oscar squirmed slightly, but allowed the incident to pass without comment.

'Everything okay, champ?' Peter asked.

'Yes, Dad,' said Oscar, beaming all over his face, 'everything's really great!'

'Oh, oh, Kevin and Oscar are here!' Beth suddenly exclaimed, drowning out the rest of the conversation in the room. 'That means we can all come together to wish them _bon voyage_... _buen viaje_, I mean. Carl, did you want to say something?'

Carl drew himself up to his full height and cleared his throat. Kevin winced and looked down at his feet.

'Oh my God,' he muttered, 'he's going to make a speech!'

'Is that so bad?' said Oscar.

'It'll be embarrassing,' said Kevin.

'I want to thank you all for coming to my house today,' said Carl, 'to wish Kevin and Oscar well on their adventure in Mexico. Now, I'm not normally one for making speeches, but I just want to make it clear to all of you that my son has my full support in whatever he chooses to do with his life, and he needn't ever fear that I'm going to try to stand in his way, or dissuade him from following his heart. Kevin, your life is very different from mine – I understand that, and I accept it. You're a caring, loving, generous person, and in many ways a better man than I've ever been. I love you, son; I hope you know that.'

Everyone applauded Carl politely, then all eyes turned to Kevin for his response.

'Yes, Dad,' said Kevin. 'Thank you; I do. And I appreciate everything you just said, but I wish you would've told me in private.'

Everyone exchanged slightly awkward glances.

'And so, son, as you prepare to embark on your great journey...' Carl continued.

'Jesus, he hasn't finished yet!' Kevin hissed to Oscar, who reached out and held his hand.

'...I wish you good luck, good health and, er... good travelling conditions. And please, don't think that I'm being a hypocrite – I'm well aware that if I went back in time a few years and told my past self what you were going to be doing on this day, he... I mean, _I_... would've tried to do everything in my power to stop you. I'd have said, "For God's sake, don't go to Mexico – just forget the damn country even exists and concentrate on being an American!" And I'd have said, "Turn away from the homosexual life!"'

Oscar squeezed Kevin's hand tightly; Kevin squeezed back.

'But I'd have been wrong,' said Carl. 'I know that now. It's your life, Kevin; not mine. So I say again, I give you all my love to take with you on your journey... whatever that's worth.'

Everyone applauded again. Kevin smiled sheepishly, but could not think of anything else to say.

'And while we're all together,' said Beth, 'Kylie has an announcement she wants to make.'

Kylie stood on the couch so that everyone could see her.

'Eduardo and I both agree,' she said with a huge smile, 'that this is the best time to tell you all that I'm pregnant again!'

The response to this news was both loud and enthusiastic throughout the room. Only James and Conchita remained unmoved, as they toddled around together between everyone's legs.

'Can we go ahead and get to work on the buffet now?' Jessica's voice was suddenly raised above the hubbub.

'Yes, by all means,' Beth called back. 'Please, everyone – relax and enjoy yourselves!'

* * *

Kevin was mindlessly cramming Cheetos into his mouth, looking peevishly at his father, when Kylie came up to him.

'Hey,' she said. 'I guess you didn't think much of what Carl had to say, huh?'

'I know he meant well,' said Kevin. 'But Jesus, it was so embarrassing!'

'That's parents for you,' Kylie laughed. 'But really, Kev, I don't think your dad knows how lucky he is – you're a pretty incredible guy, you know.'

'Sometimes I think my dad would've preferred a son who _did_ go out stealing and drinking and drug-taking and knocking up girls,' said Kevin, 'and _didn't_ care about people and sea turtles and wasn't... well, wasn't like _me_. Not that he'd have approved of those things, but at least he'd have been able to understand them.'

'Well, I guess if James turns into a tearaway then Carl will get his wish, won't he?' said Kylie.

'No, I don't think so,' Kevin laughed. 'He's different now.'

'Because of you,' said Kylie. 'You've had a hugely positive effect on quite a few people's lives, Kev; don't ever forget that, will you?'

'I'll try not to,' said Kevin, smiling weakly at her. 'Jeez, but what about you? Another baby, huh? I'm gonna have to brush up on my babysitting skills.'

'You won't have time for babysitting,' said Kylie. 'What about all that medical training you're going to be doing?'

'Hey, I'll always have time for you and Eduardo and your family,' said Kevin. 'I mean, 'cause it's my family too. _You're_ my family; that's what I'm trying to say. And I know we'll always be a part of each other's families, no matter how they end up branching out in various ways... Jesus, I'm not making any sense! And it sounded so good in my head.'

Kylie smiled, and gathered Kevin into a close embrace. He hugged her back, resting his cheek on top of her head.

'You're making _perfect_ sense,' said Kylie, 'and you're absolutely right – however you cut it, we're all the Riveras.'

Eduardo came up to them, and clapped Kevin on the back. Kylie stepped back from Kevin and slipped her arm through Eduardo's; they smiled at each other.

'Well,' said Kylie, 'everyone knows now.'

'Did you tell Kevin about the names?' Eduardo asked.

'Oh... no, I didn't,' said Kylie. 'You tell him, sweetie.'

'What names?' said Kevin.

'Names for the baby,' said Eduardo. 'If it's a girl then we're gonna call her Rose, after Grandma Rose... and if it's a boy, we thought we'd call him Kevin.'

'After you,' Kylie added. 'I suggested Alberto, or Albert, at first... but Eduardo said he didn't really want to use that name.'

'It's not that I don't like it,' Eduardo added. 'It's just that I think there are better names out there, and Kevin is one of them.'

'We hope you approve of our plan,' said Kylie.

'Of course I do,' said Kevin, 'if you're really sure you want a baby named after me – I'm not all that special, you know.'

'Yes, you are,' said Kylie.

'Of course you are, dude,' said Eduardo.

Kevin smiled, and Eduardo ruffled his hair.

'We really can't use Kevin if we have another girl, of course,' Kylie added. 'Not even as a middle name, really.'

'That's okay,' said Kevin. 'It's the thought that counts.'

* * *

A short time later, Ella and Michael went into the front hallway and came up to Kevin and Oscar, who were checking through a huge pile of bus tickets that Kevin had been keeping in his backpack.

'I have to go now, guys,' said Ella. 'I said I'd meet my sister from soccer practice and walk home with her.'

'And I'm tagging along,' said Michael.

'Thanks so much for coming to see us off,' Kevin beamed at them. 'We'll see you in six months... and make sure you keep your eyes open for those postcards, won't you?'

Ella smiled and nodded, then she gave Kevin a hug and a quick kiss. She then moved on to hug Oscar, whom she also pecked on the cheek.

'I'm gonna accept any gigs we get for the new year,' Ella told Oscar, 'so just you make sure you come back safely, and you're ready to rock and roll again when you do!'

'Don't worry, Ella,' said Oscar. 'The band is still very important to me. You and Tim and Danny can finish writing those songs we were working on the other day. This definitely isn't the end – Mood Slime is only on hiatus.'

'You bet your sweet ass it is!' Ella grinned at him. 'Have a great time, dude... and don't do anything I wouldn't do.'

'Okay,' said Oscar, grinning back at her. 'That should give me enough scope for everything I was hoping to do and then some!'

Ella laughed, and Michael raised an eyebrow.

'Well...' he said, looking more than a little embarrassed. 'Bye then, guys.'

Michael shook Oscar's hand and they clapped each other on the shoulder. Michael and Kevin then went through the same ritual, but Michael could not resist giving Kevin another hug while he was at it. When he had finished, he looked at the floor, sidled to the front door, opened it and left the house. Ella gave Kevin and Oscar one last winning smile each, then she followed Michael.

'Wow, I'm really gonna miss those two,' Kevin said to Oscar.

'Me too,' said Oscar. 'Do you think they'll want to have a little orgy to celebrate when we get back?'

'I don't know,' Kevin laughed. 'Maybe not. I don't think Michael would want to get involved in any kind of a group sex situation where there weren't at least two girls taking part – unlike Jandro, he's not really very comfortable with the idea of boy-to-boy contact. On a personal level, I mean – not as a life philosophy.'

'Well, that's his loss,' said Oscar. 'Oh, but didn't Michael kiss Jandro full on the lips one time, in front of your whole drama class?'

'That was only acting,' Kevin grinned. 'Michael was always much better than me and Jandro at separating our drama lessons from his real feelings. Come to think of it, he always detached himself emotionally from everything we did at school. Take the locker room – Mike was always strutting around nude in there without a care in the world, right from the start of seventh grade, but he made sure to keep his junk covered for sleepovers. Okay, so we've got all the right tickets – can you pass them to me in reverse order so I can pack them away again?'

Just as Kevin reached the stage of fastening the zip on his backpack, Beth entered the hallway.

'We should think about making a move soon,' she said. 'Oscar, your mom says she's going to come to the bus station. Do you both want to go into the living room and say goodbye to everyone else?'

'Sure, Mom,' said Kevin. 'Thanks so much for being so cool about all of this... and for everything else you've been so cool about too.'

'Oh, don't be silly,' said Beth, reaching up to wipe a tear from her eye. 'Oh no – I promised myself I wouldn't cry!'

'You don't need to worry, Mom – we'll be totally fine, and we'll have a fantastic time,' said Kevin.

'I know – that's the problem,' said Beth. 'You won't want to come home!'

'Sure we will,' Kevin laughed. 'Six months of paradise is enough for anyone.'

Beth laughed through her tears and gathered Kevin into a crushing embrace. Oscar tactfully withdrew to the living room.

* * *

Kevin finished arranging the two enormous backpacks on the bus's luggage rack, then he came to sit next to Oscar. They looked out of the window and saw their mothers waving frantically to them from the other side of the concourse, so they waved frantically back.

'Not having any second thoughts, are you?' said Kevin.

'No way!' said Oscar. 'I'm more excited than I've ever been in my life!'

'I don't know, man,' Kevin grinned, 'I think I've seen you way more excited than you are right now.'

'I'm internalising it,' said Oscar. 'I don't want to make an exhibition of myself on the bus.'

'Yeah – I guess I'm doing that too,' said Kevin, then he started pummelling Oscar's upper body with his fists and laughing hysterically.

'Dude, you'll get us kicked off!' Oscar giggled. 'Save it for later, okay?'

'Okay,' said Kevin, settling himself back into his seat with great dignity.

'This, er... this youth hostel in Tijuana...' said Oscar. 'We don't get a private room, do we? I mean, we have to share with a bunch of other guys, right?'

'That's right,' said Kevin. 'It's a bit of a drag, I'll admit, but at least there's plenty of potential for boy-to-boy contact if you want some.'

'What I was really wondering,' said Oscar, 'is where you can go for _private_ boy-to-boy contact, if you want some.'

'There's always the showers,' said Kevin. 'You can do whatever the hell you want in there. They have private cubicles, obviously.'

'Oh, good,' said Oscar.

'You know, when we stay with Adela,' said Kevin, 'she'll almost definitely put us in separate rooms.'

'Bummer,' Oscar remarked. 'Ah, well – there's always those secluded beaches you told me about.'

'Yes,' said Kevin, 'there's always the secluded beaches.'

'This is shaping up to be a really _horny_ backpacking tour of Mexico!' Oscar giggled.

'Well, I know I can't be around you for six months without getting horny,' said Kevin.

'Sometimes six _minutes_ is a challenge, right?'

'Right. Although I don't think that's gonna be a problem until your hair grows a little, Mr Baldy.'

Oscar squeaked in protest and jabbed Kevin in the ribs; Kevin grinned and joined in the ruck.

'Tickets, please!' a disapproving voice interrupted them.

'Er, sorry,' Kevin said sheepishly, extricating his head from Oscar's left arm. 'Just a second – they're in my back pocket.'

Once the bus driver had finished his ticket inspection, he went to take his seat at the front of the vehicle. He pulled the lever to close the door, then he activated the PA system and spoke into his handheld microphone.

'Good afternoon,' the driver's voice crackled from the speakers, 'and welcome aboard this Greyhound Lines intercity bus service to Chicago, Illinois.'

'Exactly how many changes do we have to make before we get to Tijuana?' Oscar asked Kevin.

'Only two,' said Kevin. 'We take our second bus from Chicago to Phoenix, then our third from Phoenix to Tijuana. It's only about two days' travelling time altogether.'

'Aw, man,' said Oscar, 'we're gonna have some _serious_ road mustard by the time we get there!'

Kevin giggled and said, 'I'm sure we'll be able to find one of those private shower cubicles I mentioned, then we can both go in there and... clean ourselves off.'

'Cool,' Oscar grinned. 'Sounds like fun!'

The bus pulled away from its stand and Oscar let out a whoop of delight.

'It's happening!' he squeaked. 'It's really happening!'

'Okay, I'll admit it,' said Kevin, 'this _is_ the most excited I've ever seen you!'

* * *

Jessica was sitting at her computer with a desktop microphone in front of her, staring at a Skype window that contained an image of a cute-faced blond boy of about her own age.

'He's probably halfway to Chicago by now,' said Jessica, sighing heavily.

'Isn't that in a completely different direction from Mexico?' the boy asked.

Jessica frowned and said, 'Hey, _I'm_ not the one who worked out the travel arrangements! Oscar told me he knew they were going to Chicago first, but he wasn't sure how many more buses they were supposed to be taking after that.'

'You don't need to worry about him, Jess,' said the boy. 'He'll come back in one piece. Almost certainly!'

'Don't joke about it! _Anything_ could happen to him!'

'Yes, but it won't.'

'You don't know that!' said Jessica.

'Oh gawd, I'm sorry if I'm making things worse for you,' said the boy. 'Don't hit me!'

Jessica smiled and said, 'You know I can't!'

'I always worry your fist is going to burst through my screen when you get like this.'

'I'd never hit you, okay? Well, not unless you _really_ pissed me off.'

'I'll have to watch myself, then,' said the boy, grinning widely.

'Yeah, you will,' Jessica laughed.

'Seriously, Jess, Oscar _will_ be okay,' the boy said. 'He's got Kevin to look after him, hasn't he?'

'Yeah,' said Jessica. 'Kevin's great, really, and I'm sure he's an excellent travel guide... but if he lets anything happen to Oscar, I'll kill him!'

'I'll fly over and give you a hand,' said the boy. 'Kevin's a pretty beefy chap, isn't he?'

'Yeah, he is,' said Jessica. 'You know, the house already feels weird now Oscar's not in it. I've never been without him for more than a week – never in my life!'

'And I know it's quite a few years since he's been away from you even for _that_ long,' the boy said significantly.

'Six months is a _really_ long time,' Jessica sighed.

'It'll be over before you know it,' said the boy. 'I mean, quite a bit of it's the summer holidays, and they _never_ last long enough!'

Jessica laughed and said, 'Yeah, that's true. Listen, you don't mind me moaning on at you about my feelings like this, do you?'

'Jess, it's what I'm _here_ for!' the boy assured her. 'You carry on moaning if you want to – I'll be happy to listen until you feel like stopping.'

Jessica beamed at him and said, 'I think I've done enough moaning for now. How about you? Is there anything _you_ want to moan to _me_ about?'

'Um... they included the piece I wrote about the school timetable in the information pack for September's new year sevens without consulting me _or_ crediting me,' said the boy. 'I'm pretty miffed about that.'

'Wow, that's bullshit!' said Jessica. 'If they're gonna –'

There suddenly came a series of knocks on the door of Jessica's bedroom, causing her to whirl around in annoyance and surprise.

'Jess?' Peter's voice called through the door. 'Are you okay? Your mom's ready to serve dinner if you feel like coming down.'

'It's my dad,' said Jessica, turning back to the screen with an apologetic look on her face. 'I gotta go.'

'No problem,' said the boy, giving her a winning smile. 'Call me again when you've had your dinner if you like.'

'Are you sure? It'll be the middle of the night for you!'

'Of course I'm sure! It's not like it's a school night... and I wouldn't care if it _was_!'

'Okay,' said Jessica, grinning, 'it's a date!'

* * *

Kevin was roused from sleep by the unmistakable sensation of someone getting into bed with him.

'Is that you, man?' he whispered.

'Were you expecting someone else?' Oscar whispered back.

'I wasn't exactly _expecting_ you,' said Kevin. 'I thought we agreed we weren't gonna _do_ anything with six other guys in the room.'

'I know,' said Oscar, 'but I just couldn't stand it!'

'Stand what?'

'Lying down there knowing you were just a few inches above me, and that if I climbed your ladder and breached those few inches, we could hold each other and fall asleep together.'

'Aw, that's really cute of you,' said Kevin.

'Plus I thought we might end up having sex anyway, seeing as we're both here now,' said Oscar.

'We can't!' Kevin giggled. 'Not with all those other guys in the room! They're not Jandro and Lucy and Michael and Ella, you know. I wouldn't mind trying out the holding each other and falling asleep together plan, though.'

'That'll do for now,' said Oscar.

* * *

Oscar was sitting on a bench opposite the youth hostel's reception desk with two overflowing backpacks at his feet. Kevin was struggling with the wall-mounted payphone, although he quickly gave up on this fruitless activity and went to speak to the young woman at the reception desk.

'_Puedo ser de ayuda?_' said the receptionist.

'_El teléfono está muerto!_' Kevin told her.

The receptionist reached under the desk and brought up a working phone for Kevin to use.

'_Gracias_,' Kevin smiled at her.

'_De nada_,' she smiled back.

Kevin dialled a very long sequence of digits into the phone, then he smiled at Oscar and gave him a thumbs-up. Oscar smiled back and returned the gesture.

'Hi, Mom!' Kevin yelled into the mouthpiece. 'Yeah, sorry, I can't hear you very well! Yeah, we arrived safely in Mexico yesterday and we're just about to leave Tijuana. Yeah, it's been great so far. Yeah, he's okay. No... no, nothing like that has happened to him. Is Jimmy okay? Give him a kiss from his big brother, okay? And give my love to Kylie and Eduardo. What? Um... oh, yeah, I guess so. Okay, yeah. I'll try to call you again from La Paz, then I don't think I'll really be able to until Mexico City. Yeah. I love you too, Mom. Okay, bye.'

Kevin replaced the receiver and passed the phone back to the receptionist, who gave him another smile.

'_Gracias_,' Kevin said again.

'_Nos visitará nuevamente en el futuro?_' the receptionist asked.

'_Es posible_,' said Kevin. '_Si estamos en Tijuana de nuevo, volveremos_.'

The receptionist smiled and nodded, then she turned her attention to some paperwork so Kevin was free to join Oscar on the bench.

'Did you just tell her we might come back here again someday?' Oscar asked.

'If we're in the neighbourhood, yeah,' said Kevin.

'Do you think we ever will be?'

'Who knows, man? Like I said, _es posible_.'

'Yeah, I guess so,' said Oscar. 'Nothing like _what_ has happened to me?'

'Oh, yeah...' Kevin laughed. 'Apparently your mom thinks you're gonna get diarrhoea and vomiting from the Mexican food.'

'Oh my God!' said Oscar. 'Moms, huh? It has nothing to do with the food – I won't get diarrhoea and vomiting 'cause we're not going on any planes.'

'Yeah, I remember the problem,' said Kevin. 'That barf-filled kiss you gave me over Ireland... mmm-mmm, delicious!'

Oscar laughed and gave Kevin a shove.

'We should make a move now,' said Kevin. 'We need to be at the bus station in fifteen minutes.'

'Remind me where we're actually going on this bus we're about to catch,' said Oscar.

'We're travelling all the way down the Baja California Peninsula to La Paz,' said Kevin, 'where we're gonna go diving and snorkelling, then we'll take the ferry over to Topolobampo, then we're gonna take the train through the Copper Canyon to Creel and go mountain biking in the Sierra Tarahumara, then we'll head for Mexico City by bus... and I can't remember the exact order of the rest without consulting the itinerary, but there's a whole bunch of Mayan ruins in there somewhere and it's all gonna be fantastic, trust me.'

'I _do_ trust you, and I can't wait!' said Oscar.

'And luckily,' Kevin grinned, 'you don't have to!'


End file.
